US fixed-income giant Pimco attracted €29bn of net inflows from European investors in the 11 months to November 30 – more than double that of its nearest competitor.

Joe McDevitt has led Pimco's growth in Europe for a decade

Bond managers on the whole benefited from a year of strong investor demand for the asset class, with €158bn of net inflows from Europe, according to data provider Morningstar.

November was the second best month for bond funds on record, following inflows of €20bn boosted by interest in high-yield and emerging market debt.

Pimco gained an extra boost from good performance, a strong brand and a relentless marketing campaign in the wholesale sector. Pimco managing director Joe McDevitt told Financial News in September that he expected the group's wholesale business to grow in importance in Europe: “This initiative has been running for eight to nine years, but we stepped it up in 2009.” http://bit.ly/VihQdK

The next best manager, AllianceBernstein, garnered €11.8bn, with its 63% owner Axa placed third with €8.6 bn. Bond specialist M&G ranked fourth with inflows of €8bn from Europe. Credit Suisse rounded off the top five with €7.6bn.

Equity funds, however, suffered net outflows of €11bn in 2012 to the end of November, although flows picked up towards the end of the period with €4.7bn of inflows during November.

Balanced funds continued their winning streak, taking in €25bn of net new money over the period. The M&G Optimal Income fund came top, with inflows of €4.4bn. Carmignac Patrimone was second with €2.1bn. Baillie Gifford Diversified came third with just under €2.1bn.